Math cents

Professor and student use pennies to illustrate math concepts

Oct. 19, 2013

St. Michael's College senior Lydia Koch, 21, of Essex Junction and Associate Professor of Education Tim Whiteford of Richmond discuss Sirpinski and Koch fractals, the math equivalent of poetry and creative writing at St. Michael's College in Colchester on Oct. 9. / LYNN MONTY/Free Press

Written by

Free Press Staff Writer

Coveted bronze coins of days-gone-by have come alive on the walls of St. Edmunds Hall at St. Michael’s College in Colchester.

Associate Professor of Education Tim Whiteford and senior Lydia Koch have teamed up to create a buzz on campus about pennies.

Their display titled “Maths; the Science of Pattern and Art of Using Cents” began in response to a project Koch handed in for a grade last semester. Her project sparked Whiteford to act upon what Koch presented to him in PowerPoint form. He made the assignment a true-to-life reality on the white brick wall leading to his office door.

“I pulled some pennies out of my pocket and I haven’t stopped,” Whiteford said. “Mathematics being the science of pattern is something I have always believed. So here it is.”

Whiteford began with Sirpinski and Koch fractals. “This is, in effect, the math equivalent of poetry and creative writing in the English language arts,” Whiteford said.

The fractals on the wall are called “Koch curves” a happy coincidence discovered in the process of the project. They are named for the Swedish mathematician Helge von Koch, and Koch happens to be Lydia’s last name as well.

Koch, 21, of Essex Junction started a penny collection her freshman year in college because nobody pays attention to pennies, she said. She has collected almost 4,000 pennies, stored in glass containers by decade.

The jars are positioned artistically around her living space, and she also has created many artistic installations with them on her own walls, much like Whiteford has done at the college.

Pennies on the wall make mathematical relationships between fractals and patterns immediately visually accessible, Koch said.

“This brings math to life,” she said. “What is so fascinating is that using pennies as a manipulative versus a little plastic disc of the same size, gets people excited.”

Whiteford pointed to a group of pennies on his wall and said, “Look, a square number makes a square — literally. Mathematics is full of patterns like this.”

Koch said, “It’s unexpected that you would do this with pennies. They are all around us and nobody pays attention to them.”

Her next project is a portrait of Abraham Lincoln in pennies on the wall next to Whiteford’s fractal tree.

Koch describes this effort as a fusion of art and math. “There is a wealth of creativity in math,” she said.